[marks carlsson]

while driving on sat night had a problem with charging on my carlsson, the volt meter on the computer on the dash was showing 13.4/13.5 volts while going down the m1 but suddenly dropped to 11.1/11.3 volts by the time i had reached my destination and the battery light was on very dimmly.
left the car for about 2 hours and then went to drive to work, by this time the reading was 11.0 and on the drive back to work in luton had dropped to about 9.9, when i left work to go home at 3am the reading dropped to 8.5 by the time i got home and i had headlights like candles and the radio had cut out as had all the lights on the dashboard.
when i looked on sunday at the car the alternator was covered in oil which looked like it was leaking from the oil filler kneck
1. would the oil cause the alternator to stop working

2. why ids there an oil leak coming from the oil filler kneck?

i know it had the correct amount of oil in iy as i topped it up sat afternoon
any help would be much appreciated
thanks
mark

 

[kommando]

Not sure how the oil would effect the alternator but try the following. The oil could have got on to the alternator brushes and then burnt with the heat leaving a non-conducting deposit which stopped it from charging. A clean up of the brushes and the commutator should recover the situation if this is the fault.

 

[mark e]

I wouldn't expect oil to stop the alternator working. It sounds like it has just simply expired to me. It could be brushes, the regulator or both. I've just changed my 2.3CS alternator for about £90 plus VAT from GSF. If yours is a lower rated one I think it's only about £70 plus VAT. These are exchange prices- you have to take your old one in and swap it, other wise there's a surcharge of £30. I would recommend taking your old one in if only to make sure that the new one is the same pulley height and mounting hole sizes. Mine wasn't- I didn't find out until I'd fitted it .

Changing it isn't too difficult- about 1½ hours I reckon. Drivers wheel off, wheelarch liner out and power steering pump & bracket unbolted to get to it.

As for your oil leak, it could be caused by a split in the stem, or if you overfilled slightly or if your PCV valve has failed, then under boost oil would be forced out.

 

[marks carlsson]

could you just clarify what a pcv valve is

 

[mark e]

Sorry!

IIRC PCV stand for Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve. Anyway, it's the plastic valve about 20mm dia and 5mm wide that sits in the smaller of the two hoses running from the LHS of the crankcase cover as you look at it from the front of the car.

There is a crankacse breather system linked to the throttle inlet, however on turbo models it needs a one way valve to make sure that under boost the pressure doesn't try to force the oil out of the dipstick!

That's what the PCV valve is for- to allow vaccum in the inlet manifold to draw off vapour but stop pressure in the manifold getting back to the crankcase.

HTH, I should have said it first time

 

[marks carlsson]

thats probably solved the problem as mine hasn't got one!!!
will have to get one of those
cheers for the help
mark

 

[marks carlsson]

found the pcv valve sitting on top of the alternator!!!!, i didn't realise what a pain getting the alternator off would be, the dont tell you in the haynes manual( what a F*****g waste of time that is!!!!) that the lower bolt is an allen key and that the top bolt is really difficult to get to
stipped alternator today, totally gunged with oil, took out the brushes, one about 8mm long and the other about 4mm long and they look absoulutely knackered,
cleaned all the alternator out and changed for new brushes (9.50 + vat at GSF ) will put alternator back on and let you know what happens!!

thanks for the help

mark

p.s has anyone seen the carlsson for sale on ebay for £300, must be mad